At Your Worst
by Get It Right
Summary: At your worst moment, is when you see your true self.Mutliple ships
1. I Wrong Place, Wrong Time

_**Author's Note:** I started this fic about 2 months ago, maybe more, but I like to take my time with things so that is why it's only getting up now. The good thing about this story is it's finished, so I won't be able to abandon it like I have all of my others, the bad news is, I still have to type it up. _

_There are 2 things I can say about this based on what my beta has said. One is that you may not like it much, just because I don't realyl follow a normal path, I guess, but that's why you shoudl read it. The other is that it may be a bit confusing, if your confused let me know, I'll clear it up._

_**Disclaimer: **I am in no way, shape or form associated with Without A Trace or its, well, associates. This is a pure work or fictions for purely entertainment purposes._

* * *

No one ever thought they'd be here. 

Sure, they knew they wouldn't go through life without visiting this place once or twice, but not for this, not for _them_.

The worst part was the black, such an empty color, lifeless, so unlike these people who brought them here in the first place. And they were expected to wear it, like it would make it easier to move on…no, like they were never supposed to move on.

It was just the three of them now, half were gone. Standing on the damp earth, now, they all thought about it. Worst than not seeing them anymore, was the fact that someone new was coming to take each of their places. Someone they just had to _accept_. But how could they?

They grasped each others' hands just a little tighter. Heh, it's funny how what was so important at one time is so pointless at another. Just a week ago, these three wouldn't look at each other, much less comfort each other.

Who would have thought the events of these last months were so simple compared to what they were standing right in front of.

**4 Months Earlier**

"_Hey, Viv," Martin said taking off his coat and heading towards the familiar white board, "sorry if I'm late, had a…rough morning. What do we got?"_

"_Twenty-three year old female went missing from her apartment. Dog walker comes in everyday at 3:30, noticed she hadn't let the dogs out, called it in/"_

"_Who was the last person to see her?"_

"_The pizza guy around 6:45, two nights ago." Martin got out his notepad and began writing down the address of the missing women's home._

"_Martin, you all right?" Vivian had a curious tone in her voice._

"_Yeah, I'm fine ,why?"_

"_Your hand…it's shaking." He looked down at his arm, which had a hand attached that was shaking like a leaf. He tried to stop the uncontrollable jolting._

"_Oh, it's nothing…just a rough morning, like I said." He couldn't look Vivian straight in the eye._

"_All right, if you say so," sensing his discomfort, she changed the subject, "Danny and Elena will meet you there." Martin was still staring at his arm. Vivian put her face in front of his to be seen._

"_Better get going." Martin gave her a small laugh._

"_Right," he responded._

* * *

_Martin arrived at the last place the victim had been seen. It looked like every other missing person's apartment, completely normal. But still the forensic team has to sweep through everything, and that's what they were doing now. Danny and Elena stood in the corner, discussing something with a man, presumably the landlord. Danny flipped his phone shut, and headed towards the door, as Martin headed in the opposite direction. A slight nod was given by Danny to acknowledge Martin was there, but Danny was in too much of a hurry to give much more. Martin turned his focus to Elena._

"_Hey," Martin said, then asked "where's he going?" pointing towards the open doorway Danny just walked through._

"_Out to meet Jack at the girl's office."_

"_Excuse me, but I have to go supervise on a repair of a leak upstairs, may I go?" the landlord spoke._

"_Yes you may, thank you for your time," Elena responded then turned back to Martin. _

"_Can I talk to you for a minute please…in private?" she asked. She led him out to the balcony, and shut the door behind them._

_"Listen, I have a personal favor to ask you."_

_"Sure, what is it?"_

_"I'm having some problems with my ex…Sophie's father? I'd ask Danny to help me out, but I think he'd only make things worse."_

_"Yeah, whatever you need."_

_"Ok, thank you so much Martin…I need you to please get some records for me. I'd do it myself, but I don't want to look suspicious."_

_"I can probably get them by tonight if they're within the state."_

_"Great and I'll appreciate it if you could drop them off at my house."_

_"I'll see you then." They opened the balcony door and went back to work on the missing girl's home._

* * *

_"Martin, what did you guys find at the house?" It was six o'clock and they were all gathered at the conference table. Most people would be on there way home by now, but never these ones._

_"Her boyfriend thinks she ran away." Vivian chimed in._

_"Nu-uh, she didn't run away…"Martin replied to her quickly._

_"Why not? Trouble in the work place, a failing relationship…"she was about to finish her sentence when Martin snapped at her._

_"No, listen to me, I've been in this girl's place, I know her. I've been to her house, I've met her friends, and she's not. running. away!" He was about to burst into an even bigger tantrum, when Samantha spoke up._

_"Martin!" Her eyes were furious. He turned to look at her, along with everyone else. Sam was looking at his hands…they were shaking._

"_Can I have a **word** with you?" She took him to the elevator, where they both got in. Sam pushed the button for the last floor of the building._

"_Martin, what's going on?"_

_"What do you mean?" he was irritated Sam had raised her voice to him in front of his colleagues. _

_"You're using again…"he looked away," and **don't** lie to me."_

"_I thought you were doing better," she continued, "I thought you were getting help." Martin was still in silence. _

"_How could you do this to yourself again? To Danny and I?" Martin slammed on the emergency stop button, and then pressed the button for the floor above the one they were on, then started the elevator again. Without a word, the doors opened, and he walked out._

"_Martin…Martin! Martin!" Samantha called his name in vain as the elevator doors shut on her again._

* * *

_Knock, knock. Martin clacked on the address Elena had given him, files in hand. _

_A little girl answered the door. He bent down to say hello. _

_"Hi there…is your mom home?"_

_"Yeah," she answered shyly and skipped away. Elena soon came to the door looking rattled, Martin noticed._

_"Hi, I brought the files; I'm not sure how they'd help you but…" Elena looked like she was about to burst into tears._

"_Hey…are you okay?" She looked up at him_

_"He, he came here…her came to our home. He wants to see her." Martin had never seen Elena so scared._

_"How 'bout I spend the night, I'm not being presumptuous," he tried to make light of the situation, "I'll sleep on the couch…you do have a couch right?" He got a small smirk out of Elena._

_"Yes, yes I do."_

* * *

_It was around eight o'clock, and Danny had just left work. Sitting in his car, he was heading home when he got this pang. He hadn't gotten one of those over s a girl in a long time._

_He had to see her, and besides, her place was closer than his at the moment. A quick left was made, and he was on his way._

* * *

_Not too long after he made the turn, Danny was pulling up to Elena's home. He parked his car out in front where a small portal shone into her living room, her life. He noticed two bodies moving through the glass. It was definitely two adults, not her daughter. Danny squinted his eyes to see more clearly. The figures were sitting on her couch…now he could see their faces. It was Martin. Martin with Elena. Elena was in her pajamas and Martin's tie was sitting on the couch, his white shirt half unbuttoned. He was holding her. Danny's eyes were watering, his heart was breaking, and he had to get out of there. Putting the key into the ignition he turned it and drove away. He didn't know where to go…there was nowhere **to** go. No place or thing could take his pain away…except, except his worse enemy, his old friend. He headed towards the bar they used to go to after a hard case, the bar where he'd always order soda water, but this time, he had no intention of doing so._

_Danny couldn't have felt more alone or betrayed as he walked through the doors of that bar. He walked straight and forcefully to the bartender, and ordered a shot of his past poison. Sitting down near him she saw a familiar face…Sam's. She looked like just as much of a wreck as he did, but she had already four drinks on her belt. His mind took him back to the scene earlier that day between her and Martin. Man, did she look like hell. Samantha must have felt his staring because she turned to face him._

_"Danny?...What are you doing here?"_

_"Bad night."_

_"Wait…you're not thinking about having a drink, are you? Danny…you can't." After what had happened today, Sam couldn't stand to see one more person go down the drain._

_"I'm way past thinking about it." The bartender came over, drink in hand. He stretched out his arm to give Danny his order. He eagerly took the drink and brought it towards his lips. Before he had a chance to taste it, Sam grabbed in from his hand, spilling it all over both of them. _

_"Stop!" fury once again lit her eyes, as it did his. The struggle stopped, hands both on the small glass. Without an outward though, Danny pressed his lips against hers, hard, kissing her. As they slowly, awkwardly pulled away, Samantha whispered what was troubling her mind most of all at this moment._

"_Martins taking pills again." For a moment, they looked into each other's eyes, empathetic pain and disappointment apparent, and Danny grabbed her kissing her again._


	2. II That Night

_**Authors Note:** These first two chapters are the longest ones, so if it's complete torture for you to read this much, don't worry, it gets lighter._

_**Disclaimer: **I am in no way, shape or form associated with Without A Trace or its, well, associates. This is a pure work or fictions for purely entertainment purposes._

* * *

The words that needed to be said on this cold day were over, and the three dropped each other's hands and moved toward the sunken bodies. She was the first to reach into the ground, pulling up the lose earth. Crumbling it between her fingers, it fell from which it came, as she whispered…

"Good-bye."

**2 Months Earlier**

_Distance. A Word used to describe separation between things. The members of New York's FBI missing persons unit had had a lot of "distance" lately._

_You could feel it the second you stepped foot into the office. It was cold and unwelcoming. It had been like this for far too long, and the silence over what exactly this atmosphere was due to was getting ridiculous. Jack had been watching his teammates awkwardly avoid each other for months. And today was not the day for the silent treatment. They had three missing kids on their hands. Scanning the room, he notices someone was missing from their desk as well._

_"Where's Elena?" Jack asked._

_"She wasn't feeling well…went home." Vivian was the only one to respond._

_"That's the second time this week" Jack stated. He shook off his curiosity, and walked over to the timeline board. Danny, Vivian, Martin, and Sam looked at Jack's display._

_"Maggie Greenwood, Avery Collins, and Annie Mosco. All second graders at PS 29…all went missing forty-six hours ago," Jack continued, "The only things they don't have in common are the last places they were seen."_

"_Maggie was tucked into her bead two nights ago by her parents. Danny I want you and Vivian to go and talk to the parents."_

"_Avery was out with his father that weekend, and went on a camping trip. His father went to get some more wood; Avery was gone when he got back. Sam, looks like you're going to speak to the father on your own. Martin, you're coming with me to talk to Annie's grandparents." They quietly went their separate ways._

* * *

_Jack pulled up to the house to the house of Annie's grandparents. The whole ride there, he notices Martin couldn't stay still. He was always tapping his foot, or moving his fingers, and he **always** looked uncomfortable. _

_"Got a hot date?"_

_"What? Oh, no…" They sat there for a moment._

_"Care to go inside then?" Jack was amused. Martin sighed at the comment._

_"Sure." Jack quickly got out of the car, while Martin took his time. He had only closed the car door when jack began to knock on the front door. Martin could barely walk his leg was shaking so much. He made a quick look up to Jack, then pulled the orange bottle out of his pocket, shook it on his hand, then put his hand to his mouth._

* * *

_"Mr. Collins," Sam spoke to the distraught man across from her, "I know this question might be a little hard to answer, but, has your son been acting different these past few weeks. Scared or upset about anything?"_

_"He's seven years old," there was an expected pain in his voice," he was having a good time…we were having a good time."_

_"Do you think…" she was in the middle of a question, when the room began to spin, "do you think that maybe…" her mouth was watering, stomach beginning to churn, "Um, excuse me, may I use your bathroom?" The man looked confused._

_"Uh, sure, it's down the hall, on the right, last door." She rose from her seat in the living room. _

_"Thanks." She walked down the hallway and into the bathroom. Samantha bent down o lift the toilet seat, and teetered from lightheadedness. _

_She could feel it bubbling up her esophagus. She quickly pulled back her hair and let the bile run out of her mouth. Grasping the edge of the toilet seat for dear life, she felt the nausea subside, but panic ensued. She flushed the toilet, then moved to the sink. Her body felt weightless in that moment, she was on automatic, doing what her mind knew she should, but her body couldn't process. She rinsed her hands, then her mouth, and looked in the mirror. She stood there, staring for a minute, then wiped her mouth with a towel. She took a deep breath, gaining her composure, and opened the door._

* * *

_Danny and Vivian couldn't get much out of Maggie's parents. It was necessarily unexpected. A grieving mother and an angry father were definitely things to be ready for. Now they were back at the office, going through records when Vivian spoke up._

_"What's going on between you guys?"_

_"Who?" Danny kept his focus on the filed he was going through._

_"Now, don't play that game with me, Danny. You know as well as I do that things have been chilly around her lately."_

_"It's nothing…"_

_"Yeah, well it better be nothing. We all have to work with each other and we better get along."_

_**5 Days Later**_

_Mondays. The beginning of a new week, a "fresh start." We come back to work with clear heads and lighter loads on out shoulders. Samantha walked into the office and saw the "fresh start" on the board, a thirty-something missing man. He hadn't gotten to forget the worries that plagued him the previous week, maybe they were the only thing her could think about. Sam hadn't been able to forget either. In fact, they were the only thoughts invading her mind. But she had to find a way to put them aside, for that man. She was heading for her desk when Vivian walked past._

_"Don't take your coat off," she hollered, "Jack needs us at the victim, Keith's house." Sam turned around and started to walk with Vivian._

* * *

_Keith had a nice home. Well furnished and clean, making it apparent he was married, or at least had a live-in girlfriend. Jack and Elena resided in the front staircase when Sam and Vivian entered the house. Noticing their presence, Jack stopped talking and turned to them. _

_"Good you're here. Sam, I need you to talk Viv's care and meet Danny at Keith's apartment, they may have gotten a lead."_

_"His apartment? Isn't…Isn't this his house?"_

_"Exactly. Now get going." Samantha looked bothered. Never mind the fact that this man had two homes, she was worried about how she's face Danny, and Martin. They'd managed to avoid working closely with each other…until now._

* * *

_As much as Keith's house made her believe he was in a relationship, his apartment made her think he hadn't had any interaction with a woman in years. He had only the bare minimum needed for inhabitation. A couch, which it looked like he slept on, a refrigerator, and a microwave. A coffee table cluttered with paper was the only proof that someone actually **had **been living there. Danny was inspecting one corner of the tiny apartment, and Martin the other. Why they could have possibly needed her, she didn't have a clue._

_"Hey." Danny voiced emotionless, as he looked through the magazines on the table._

_"Hey," she spoke, "Any ideas on why a guy needs two houses within fifteen minutes of each other?" Under normal circumstances, Sam would have expected a half-dirt remark from Danny, but all she got was a_

_"Well, apparently he has something to hide." Samantha began looking through the man's mail on the counter. Something sparked her interest._

_"Hey guys, come look at this." They began walking over._

_"What is it?" Martin asked. She turned her head to look at them, when the scene around her began to vibrate. Her head was heavy, and she was getting nauseous, again._

_She dropped the letter abruptly onto the ground, and held her head. Trying to keep it together, she began to speak._

_"It's…it's a letter from…" The spinning refused to stop. He knees buckled, taking her to the ground._

_"Sam? Sam? Can you hear me?" Martin anxiously spoke. _

"_Let me help you." He and Danny both put out a hand. She noticed Martin was shaking, and gave both her arms to Danny._

_"I'll get you some water." Martin walked to the sink._

_"Come on, let's go over here all right?" Danny helped her over to the couch and sat beside her. Martin handed her the glass of water, she hesitantly began to drink._

_"I think we need to get you to a doctor," Danny said, trouble in his voice. She swallowed the water, shaking her head._

_"No, no, I'm fine, let's just get back to work, okay?" She started to get up, but Danny and Martin both stopped her._

_"Danny's right, you really need to see a doctor."_

_"I'm. Fine. This man's the one you need to be worrying about."_

_"At least sit this one out, okay, go home or back to the office."_

_"Guys, I'm really fine, great even, let's just focus on this case."_

_"Sam, come on, you should relax until you find out what's wrong."_

_"I'm pregnant! That's what's wrong, I'm pregnant okay!?!" It was a relief to finally get it out, but she realized the atmosphere could have been better. Both men were in awe. Martin looked confused, but Danny was…bewildered. Martin turned to see the look on Danny's face. _

_Something clicked._

_Danny was staring at Samantha, and Danny at Sam, almost helplessly. Martin got up from the couch._

_"Wait a minute," a small laugh escaped his mouth, this was almost funny, "wait a minute it's not…" He looked back and forth at them._

"_You two didn't…" Danny snapped out of his daze and stood up, talking to Martin._

_"Hey now, calm down-" Martin pushed him before he could let out one more word. Danny grabbed his own face, hitting the floor, hard._

_"Martin! Martin, stop! What's wrong with you?!" Martin turned his attention; his eyes were mad, slightly delusional._

_"When…when did you sleep together?" Sam was angry, so angry, but she began to cry._

_"Oh I don't know, Martin, maybe when you were getting high." Sam retorted._

_"When, when did we sleep together? Maybe, that night, that same night you slept with Elena!" yelled Danny. Sam and Martin both looked and Danny, a look of realization and perplexity was on both faces._

_"I ne-"_

_"-Sure you didn't!" Danny sarcastically stated. This was all just a little too much._

_"I've got to get out of here," Sam quietly said to herself. She quickly rose from the couch, and walked out the door._

* * *

_**End note:** I know the baby storyline is so cliche, but I had the deep, burning erge to do it._


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